ALCOA CEO SAYS CHINA MAY NOT SLOW ALUMINUM PRODUCTION

Yesterday, Alcoa kicked off the earnings season, with numbers which shocked the street. Analysts had expected a small loss, but Alcoa announced solid earnings. Revenue came in at over $6 billion, stunning the street. The key question was Chinese demand, and the demand seemed to be solid. The stock was up more than 6.5%, making it the best day in several months.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) CEO Klaus Kleinfeld spoke with FOX Business Network’s (FBN) Liz Claman about the company’s recent announcement that it has trimmed its aluminum demand outlook for China. Kleinfeld said, China “might not slow down” its aluminum production but that “the first, most important thing is they are not going to export.”

Excerpts from the report are below.

On why he thinks China may not slow aluminum production:

“They might not slow down, but the first, most important thing is they are not going to export. Certainly they are not a threat to the world market because they are not going to export. They are very expensive. They need energy. They don’t have energy. Most of the energy is made by coal; almost 90 plus percent is made by coal. They might not slow down because they have a very heavy growth rate. We project for this year, 11 percent, world market we think it is going to grow 7 percent. I think with the political changes going on in China, it is very unlikely that major moves are happening.”

The CEO refused to comment about possible dividend hikes.

He also weighed in on his personal life, and spoke about his own personal experience as an immigrant.